


in the meantime, between you and me

by peaches (crocustongues)



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Bodyswap, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Getting Together, M/M, Mutual Pining, and two very understanding idiots, they're also married but don't worry that's not a spoiler, two very dense idiots, two very lovable dogs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-05-28
Packaged: 2019-05-15 00:09:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14779884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crocustongues/pseuds/peaches
Summary: Tetsurou wakes up to his alarm clock going off, as he usually does. The second he opens his eyes, though, he’s struck with the feeling that something’snot right. He turns over and only just barely keeps from screaming, because he’s face to face with a sleeping Sawamura.In his bed.Sleeping.With him.





	in the meantime, between you and me

**Author's Note:**

> hello! i'm back on my bullshit my friends! this time with a double dose of kurodai! fun!
> 
> this was actually a poopy idea and the reason it's a fic at all is because i talked to emily [amaanogawa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/amaanogawa/pseuds/amaanogawa) so really, her fault (thanks for letting me cry abt the dogs, i love them so much and u!)
> 
> (many thanks, as always to my lovely vi for beta-ing the first half of this fic, i hope ur doing fabulously sweetheart)

Tetsurou pretends not to notice it. Not the blush creeping high up his neck when Sawamura’s hand brushes against his. Not the daydreams about holding Sawamura’s hand (not that he would in real life, Sawamura probably doesn’t even like hand holding). Not the pleas from friends about how obvious it was that Sawamura liked him (Kenma, _please_ ), or how obvious _he_ was (Oikawa, _shut up_ ).

He refuses to even _acknowledge_ his own feelings, instead choosing to bottle them up and cork it with an iron intent. In hindsight, Tetsurou suspects that had something to do with The Event, as it came to be known later.

Tetsurou wakes up to his alarm clock going off, as he usually does. The second he opens his eyes, though, he’s struck with the feeling that something’s _not right_. He turns over and only just barely keeps from screaming, because he’s face to face with a sleeping Sawamura. 

_In his bed._

_Sleeping._

_With him._

Tetsurou pinches his arm and blinks hard. Sawamura’s still there. He decides to get out of bed and investigate this matter further, preferably _before_ Sawamura wakes up and asks questions Tetsurou doesn’t have answers to.

The second he gets out the door, he’s welcomed by barking in unfamiliar living room—far larger than the one in his apartment. The sense of _wrongness_ pick up its pace when a chihuahua scampers over to him and sniffs at his feet. 

“Tetsu, why didn’t you wake me up?” Tetsurou freezes at the sound because that means Sawamura’s awake and he is not ready for the inevitable interrogation.

“Uh, I forgot?” he hazards, trying to remember why he had to wake Sawamura up at 8 am on a Tuesday morning when he knows all too well Sawamura doesn’t _have_ any classes on Tuesdays.

Sawamura frowns at him and that’s when Tetsurou realises there isn’t just _one_ dog in this apartment, but _two_ , and the shiba’s trying to get Sawamura’s attention by licking his hand. He doesn’t know how to ask (or, indeed, _what_ to ask) about what’s happening, because everything’s suddenly _too much_ and he excuses himself into the bathroom to try and gauge his situation.

This decision is reassessed and borderline tabled a second too late, because he’s already in the bathroom now, and there’s no escaping the fact that this bathroom is very obviously _not_ his, judging by the range of products that line the shelf. They don’t seem to be Sawamura’s either, but Tetsurou digresses. This does not seem like the ideal moment to go through the laundry list of toiletries you and your roommate use to identify whose bathroom he’s in.

There are few possibilities that could’ve caused this mess: one, this is a dream, and the ‘pinching yourself to wake up’ method is inherently flawed. Two, he _is_ awake but this has been his reality all along, and he was just dreaming about that other life ( _hah_ , he _wishes_ ). Three, he’s been abducted by aliens and this is a simulation conducted to study human behaviour and relationships (although he knows this theory is the least plausible, if only because it’s whispered to him by the Oikawa voice in his head). Fourth, this is his life, but in another universe, where he wakes up to Sawamura sleeping next to him. And they have two dogs.

_Two._

Tetsurou sighs and splashes some water on his face, hoping it’ll calm him down, but all he can do is stare at the mirror in horror—he has _stubble_. Nothing major, just a five o’clock shadow that graces the curve of his jaw. 

_What on earth is going on?_

“Tetsu, are you done? Don’t hog the toilet, I’ve a meeting today!” Crap, Sawamura seems annoyed. Tetsurou should really try to keep at his good side so when Sawamura finally realises he’s not really the Kuroo Tetsurou he knows, he won’t flip out entirely—just a little bit, with any luck—and kick him out. Also, is it really impersonation if the person he’s impersonating is himself? Can he go to jail for this?

“Tetsurou! Come on out already! You have to take the dogs to the park!”

“Coming!” Tetsurou calls back, pinking at the use of his given name. 

“Are you alright?” Sawamura looks a little worried, and places his hand on Tetsurou’s forehead, “It doesn’t feel warm, but do you want to stay home today?”

Tetsurou takes a step back, he’s entirely too aware of their proximity to each other and as much as he wants to be this close to the real Sawamura Daichi (technically speaking, this also the real Sawamura Daichi, but he means his own Sawamura, of course), he’s afraid this Sawamura will find out, somehow, and—

_Oh._

Sawamura’s wearing a _ring_. On his _left hand_. On the _ring finger_. Tetsurou kind of loses it in his head a little, but keeps it in check for later, when he’s alone and can scream out loud in privacy. 

“You seem a little on edge. Do you want me to call work and let them know?”

Tetsurou’s train of thought is broken and he smiles gratefully and tells him to go ahead, thank you. Sawamura’s brows furrow in confusion (and he looks so much like his own Sawamura, Tetsurou almost blurts out his secret). He tells Sawamura he’s going to go lie down, but Sawamura insists on making him some coffee before going to work.

“I know you, you’ll go to bed and not eat a single thing if it was up to you.” It feels like déjà vu, because this is something Tetsurou’s Sawamura has also said to him. It seems that even in this universe, Tetsurou’s inadequacies lie on the same spectrum of lazy, driven by sheer necessity, and sometimes even then, not. 

Sawamura makes his coffee the way he likes it and he nearly spits it out because _how does Sawamura know he likes his coffee with drinking chocolate? Even his own Sawamura didn’t know. Unless—_

Unless _he_ was the one this Sawamura is married to.

_Oh no._

He promptly chokes on his coffee following this thought and nearly jumps out of his seat when Sawamura rubs his back for comfort. He knows it’s time to excuse himself to the bedroom— _their_ bedroom—and lie down, and try to find a rational explanation and a solution for this… _situation_ he’s in.

He doesn’t catch Sawamura stare at his retreating back, narrowing his eyes in suspicion as he calls Kiki and Onigiri for their morning walk. He slips their collars on and wonders what Tetsurou thinks he’s doing, acting like they’re nineteen again, blushing hard at every word.

♥　♡　♥　♡　♥　♡　♥　♡　♥

Tetsurou’s eyes fly open at the sound of his alarm clock, and he turns around wildly to wake Daichi up.

Except he doesn’t, and falls out of bed.

He picks himself up, assuming Daichi has already woken up, and wanders out into the living room—wait. Where is his living room?

“Kiki? Onigiri?” he calls, clapping his hands like he does when he has treats. No response. He opens the door to another room—this is not his house, he has realised—and there Daichi is, asleep.

“Daichi, wake up! You have a meeting today, sweetheart.” He shakes Daichi’s shoulders gently.

“Kuroo, go away, I don’t have class today.” Daichi’s annoyance is crystal clear even under the several layers of blankets and sleep, he shrugs Tetsurou’s hand off and turns around, snoring softly.

“Wait, class? What—“ Tetsurou’s eyes widen as things start falling into place. He excuses himself into the bathroom, which isn’t his _or_ Daichi’s. That is, not _his_ Daichi’s, judging by the products. First things first—he doesn’t have his wedding ring on. Secondly, the dogs aren’t around and he’s not at home. Lastly, Daichi called him ‘Kuroo’, when he hasn’t even been ‘Kuroo’ in the last couple of years.

“Oh _no_ ,” he mumbles to himself, washing his face. It doesn’t give him any more clarity than before but he does decide that if he has classes, he’s not attending them. He hopes the Tetsurou of this universe can forgive him for ruining his perfect attendance.

He makes breakfast like he always does and hopes this Daichi likes buttered toast too, because he’s already at a loss about what to do, he thinks he’d cry if Daichi refused it (even if it wasn’t his Daichi, although, weren’t they the same person anyway?) 

He does what he has to do—first, coffee, followed by toast, and he heats up some rice, too (just in case), and sits down at the table, with his phone out, and dials the only number he feels safe trying.

“Hello—“

“Kuro, it’s 8:30. In the morning.”

Kenma is Kenma, even in this universe. Tetsurou almost smiles.

“Listen, kitten, you know I wouldn’t call if, if—“ he breaks off, not knowing how to frame what is definitely going to sound _batshit crazy._

“Yes. Quickly, before I change my mind,” Kenma says, the give in his voice is telling of how he’s really not as mad as he makes himself out to be. Tetsurou knows he has to be precise and to the point, or else he won’t have Kenma on his side if— _when_ —Daichi finds out he’s not really the Kuroo Tetsurou he knows.

“I’m not really Kuroo Tetsurou, at least not from this world. I woke up this morning in your Tetsurou’s bed, and I didn’t know who else to tell.” Tetsurou narrates the morning to Kenma on the phone, and doesn’t realise Daichi’s awake, and standing right behind him.

“Why don’t you tell Sawamura-san about this?” Kenma says once Tetsurou’s done with his story.

“What should I tell him? Hey, sorry to bother you, but I’m not the Kuroo Tetsurou you know, I’m actually him—or myself, whatever—from an alternate universe where I’m married to you, and I’m trying to figure out how to get back home, could you help me?”

“Yeah, let’s try that, shall we?” Daichi’s voice is ice-cold, and Tetsurou almost drops the phone with a squeak. Kenma promptly hangs up and goes back to sleep, knowing Kuro would call him back, regardless of the outcome. He was, as they say, useless(ly) in love, after all.

“Uh, Dai—Sawamura,” Tetsurou stands up, smiling awkwardly, holding out the chair for Daichi, “Good morning, I made you some coffee.” Daichi squints at him suspiciously before sitting down. He’s still sleep-soft around the corners of his eyes and if this was his own Daichi, Tetsurou would kiss him awake, but here he is instead, paying for some karmic sin from lifetimes ago.

“Talk.” Daichi grabs a piece of toast without hesitation.

“How much did you hear?”

“Almost everything. Who are you, really? And is this a joke?” Daichi spits out the last question with a fair degree of venom, and Tetsurou knows it’s only natural to be wary of what he’s saying because even to himself, Tetsurou sounds incredibly absurd.

“Well. I’m Kuroo Tetsurou. Well, until I married Sawamura Daichi, two years ago. I’m twenty-seven and I work at a vet’s, Tuesday through Saturday. I like salted fish and volleyball and my favourite colour is red.”

“Well, that sounds _exactly_ like Kuroo,” Daichi says, chewing his toast thoughtfully, “except for the marriage part, obviously.”

“Yeah, I mean, I hope, because I _am_ him,” Tetsurou rolls his eyes. “I wonder how the dogs are taking to your Tetsurou. I’m assuming he’s in my place now.”

_“Yeah? Well, maybe instead of being a smartass—wait did you say _dogs?_ As in, _plural?_ ” _

__

__

Tetsurou is amused. “Yeah. We have two dogs, and you named one of them Onigiri.” 

Daichi nearly drops his piece of toast and demands more information about Onigiri and Kiki. 

♥　♡　♥　♡　♥　♡　♥　♡　♥

The second Sawamura’s gone, Tetsurou calls Kenma. It goes into voicemail and it says Kenma’s on a trip to Kyoto at the moment, and only important messages should be left so he could get back to them when he returns. Also something about not calling Shouyou, which confuses Tetsurou until it dawns on him that Kenma and Shouyou were on a trip. To Kyoto. _Together_. He’s glad in a way because at least in some universe, Kenma gets his happy ending with Chibi-chan.

Tetsurou of this universe had a lot of explaining to do, if they ever met. He’d punch him, if only because that bastard got to _marry Sawamura_ when he can’t even tell Sawamura he likes him.

He calls Yaku right after, having only a tiny pool of friends he can call to explain a situation as ridiculous as this.

“I’m going to class, make it quick.”

“Uh, would you believe me if I told you I wasn’t from this world?”

‘Yes, unsurprisingly.” Tetsurou blinks in surprise at his phone when Yaku hangs up on him. Huh, this class must be really important to him. How old were they anyway, that Sawamura had a work meeting, judging by his starched office shirt and khakis, while Yaku was on his way to class? And that they were married but he looks almost exactly like himself (his own self, not this alternate universe self, but really, were they that different?) sans the beginnings of what he can only imagine is a fabulous beard.

He then texts the next best person he can think of: Oikawa. In retrospect, Oikawa was probably the best and worst person to consult on matters outside of the ordinary. And this, Tetsurou thought, looking for his contact, counted as plenty out of the ordinary.

“Been a while, Tetsu-chan. How’s the baby?” Oikawa’s voice is crackly.

Tetsurou dies on the inside then. A baby? A _baby_. A _literal_ baby. Sawamura hadn’t mentioned anything about a _baby_. 

“Buh?” He replies intelligently.

“Your beard, Tetsu-chan, how is it? Or are you calling to let me know I’ve won because Dai-chan somehow convinced you to shave it off?”

Oh. Not a _real_ baby, then. Thank goodness.

“Hey, Oikawa, I’m not Tetsurou,” a great start, he thinks to himself, “I mean, I am, just not from this universe. I’m, uh, the Kuroo Tetsurou who is not married to Sawamura. I’m also twenty-one and cannot grow a beard.”

The line is silent for so long, Tetsurou’s certain Oikawa has either not heard him correctly and is too awkward to ask him to repeat or _has_ heard him and hung up. 

“Hello?”

“You sound exactly like him.” Oikawa says quietly, pensively. “I believe you, if only because the real Tetsu-chan would never turn down an opportunity to say he loves Dai-chan or that he can grow a full beard but only chooses to not for the aesthetic.”

“Hey, now,” Tetsurou begins, feeling like he should defend this-universe himself from Oikawa’s slander. “Wait, someone’s at the door, hold on.”

Their neighbour, Tetsurou assumes, came by to drop the dogs off. Onigiri licks his hand, glad to be home, but Kiki doesn’t even look at him. He’s more hurt by that than he’s willing to let on.

“Sorry, the dogs are home, please continue,” Tetsurou says, sitting down on the sofa. He can’t believe he ever matures enough to buy a beige sofa to put in a beige living room. 

“You spoil Kiki-chan too much,” Oikawa scolds, “Anyway, look up this thing called a body swap. It means you and Tetsu-chan switched bodies and he’s probably in your place right now.”

“Oh. I will, thanks,” Tetsurou says, grateful that he’d called Oikawa, “Do you know why it happened?”

Oikawa hums in response, finally answering with, “I don’t really know, Tetsu-chan, it could be because of any number of things. Like contact with a magical artefact or the result of a heartfelt wish. Maybe you and our Tetsu-chan made the same wish at the same time or something? I’ve only really seen this kind of stuff in movies and in manga. Look around on the internet a little, I can’t always do your homework for you.”

“Yeah, yeah. Thank you, Oikawa. Really, I mean it.” Oikawa laughs in reply and hangs up.

Tetsurou’s glad this Tetsurou is friends with the same people he is. He doesn’t know what he’d do without them.

He spends the rest of the morning scrolling through pages and pages of information about body swaps, how they come into play, who they affect, and why they occur. He still doesn’t really get why they swapped places, but he has a lingering notion at the base of his throat that it’s got something to do with his feelings about Sawamura.

Speaking of Sawamura, Tetsurou’s pretty surprised when Sawamura comes home around lunchtime. When asked, he says he didn’t want to leave a sick Tetsurou to his own devices, and brought some fish for lunch, because he knows Tetsurou likes that.

They sit down to eat, once Sawamura fetches the doggie kibble for Kiki and Onigiri, and right after he takes a giant bite of his fish (Goodness knows he hasn’t eaten a proper warm meal in days, the broke college student within him cries tears of gratitude), Sawamura says, “So, are you ready to tell me who you really are?”

His tone is so casual and amiable, it takes Tetsurou a full second to comprehend the question. He chokes mid-swallow and croaks out a _what_.

“We both know you’re not Tetsu, who are you, and what do you want?” Sawamura leans back in his chair and watches Tetsurou with keen eyes. He’s done for now; it’s the truth or nothing. So Tetsurou tells the truth.

To his credit, Sawamura listens closely, and once Tetsurou’s done narrating his part of the story, he asks how Sawamura knew it wasn’t really him.

“Easy,” he shrugs, like it wasn’t the most ridiculous thing in the world, “Kiki wouldn’t touch you. She’s glued to you more often than not, and you spoil her rotten.”

“Oh.” Tetsurou feels the wind knocked out of him. It’s not just Sawamura whose loved one is missing, but the dogs too. They probably miss their Tetsurou a whole lot. “I’m sorry,” he says softly, his appetite fizzling out, replaced with a new wave of clenching guilt.

Sawamura stands up and serves Tetsurou some more fish and runs his hands through Tetsurou’s hair. “Don’t worry, Tetsu, we’ll figure it out.” 

Tetsurou’s mind short-circuits because damn Sawamura and his responsible attitude and his warm dependability. But most of all, his stupid, charming smile that he wants to kiss right off his face. Which brings Tetsurou to a new brand of cataclysmic dilemma: is he starting to fall in love with this Sawamura too? Or does it hardly matter, because they’re the same person, anyway? Is that cheating if you haven’t confessed to your crush in the first place?

He sighs rather loudly to which Sawamura asks if he’s alright.

“Just feeling existential.”

Sawamura laughs fondly and tells him that isn’t new.

♥　♡　♥　♡　♥　♡　♥　♡　♥

“So you’re telling me you and Kuroo switched places overnight, and you have no idea how to get back home to your two dogs. And myself, I suppose,” Daichi sums up. “Wait, is it even me? Or is it another-person-me?”

Tetsurou shrugs. The universe was a strange and bizarre thing, esoteric to a fault and indefatigably, he has concluded, incomprehensible and full of paradoxes. 

(The enormity of it, quite frankly, could be filled with whole universes themselves, which is to say, the universe is filled with itself. Bursting at the seams, in fact. And there comes the paradox: the vacuous empty space _was_ filled, however intangibly, however abstractly.)

“How do we get you back?” There’s the Daichi he knows, ever practical.

Tetsurou shrugs again. There’s no answering open-ended questions like that.

“Tell me about you,” he asks instead, if he’s stuck here, he might as well get to know this Daichi. Even if it implies (however circuitously) he might not ever see his own Daichi. “Tell me about me, too. And everything, really.”

Daichi hums for a bit, and tells him he and his Tetsurou go to the same university, and while he’s studying business (and something Tetsurou thinks has entirely too much to do with mathematics), this-universe Tetsurou is majoring in biochemistry. That’s partly why they moved in together, to cut down on living costs and, well, it’s nice to have a friendly face in a sea of unknown ones.

“You knew each other before college?”

“Yeah, we played volleyball on opposing teams in high school. That’s how we met, actually.”

Tetsurou falls into silence for a bit after this. He wonders if this Daichi knows it too.

“What about you?” Daichi asks suddenly, breaking the silence.

“What about me? I’ve told you quite a bit, you’re going to have to get specific.”

“Your, um,” Daichi pinks at this, and Tetsurou finds it equally endearing on this Daichi as it is on his Daichi. “Your relationship with other-me. Future-alternate-universe Sawamura Daichi. You said you two were married?”

“ _Are_ married, thank you very much,” Tetsurou corrects. “It’s great, what else can I say? He goes to boring and clinical office meetings and I go to the vet’s clinic. We come home to two precious dogs and we eat dinner together. Some days, it’s fish and rice, and sometimes we go to the ramen shop down the road when we’re either too tired or too hungry to cook.”

“It might sound a little mundane, I know, but that’s how our lives are now. Steeped in routine. Which isn’t to say we never fight.” Tetsurou laughs softly at the memory. Only a few months ago, they’d embarked on their pettiest argument ever. He couldn’t for the life of him remember what the root of the matter was, and he doesn’t care. There’d been cold, harsh words and skeletons ripped out of closets, followed by ice-cold, bone-chilling silence. Eventually, there’d been tears that thawed their hearts, and they'd made up. And made out, Tetsurou supposes.

“But more than that, I don’t think I could love anyone or anything more than I love Daichi.”

This-world Daichi looks at him wide-eyed, with something akin to wonder, and he feels like maybe he’s said a little too much.

“How can you say things like that with a straight face?” Daichi asks, a blush spreading across his face.

“Love makes you say weird things. What about you? When will you tell your Tetsurou you like him?”

Daichi opens and closes his mouth in a way Tetsurou’s only ever seen in cartoons. Finally, he says, “how did you know that?”

Tetsurou holds up this-universe himself’s phone and unlocks it. It’s a picture of himself (or, this world’s himself, whatever) and Daichi, an amateur selfie with some kind of filter where they’re looking at each other rather than at the camera, morning light trickling in from a window nearby.

“Oh,” Daichi breathes, taking the phone from Tetsurou. “That’s the picture we took after we finally moved into this apartment. I didn’t. Realise it meant so much to him. Oh.”

“I know that look,” Tetsurou says sagely, pointing to Daichi’s face in the picture, “That’s the face my Daichi makes when he scrolls through the five hundred pictures he has of Onigiri on his phone.”

“Oh.”

“Now, we need a game plan for you two for when your Tetsurou comes back.”

“And this isn’t because you’re biased?”

“Are you’re saying you totally wouldn’t kiss this,” he pointing at himself, grinning wide, “if given half the chance?”

“Please. Shut up.”

♥　♡　♥　♡　♥　♡　♥　♡　♥

Sawamura’s telling Tetsurou about his Tetsurou’s life. It honestly sounds pretty awesome and Tetsurou’s beginning to feel strangely envious of this life. Then again, was it really possible to feel envious of _yourself?_

“How did you two get together?” he asks innocently, for a not-ulterior motive. Of course.

“When we graduated from high school he came up to me and said,” Sawamura’s voices changes by half an octave, in an attempt to mimic Tetsurou, “ ‘Sawamura, I know I get on your nerves a lot, as do you on mine, but I really like you, will you go out with me?’ and he couldn’t even look me in the eye, you know. I said I would but only if he bought me ramen and—” Sawamura’s sigh is entrenched in nostalgia—“It was the most subpar bowl of ramen I’d ever eaten.”

“Oh my god.” The ignominy at the cliché was eating Tetsurou alive. Even then, he asks, “when did you know for sure though, that you liked me—him. Whatever.”

“I think I knew I was done for when I laughed at one of his dumb jokes in class once. I was the _only one_ who laughed. But he smiled so brightly I think it was worth it. And look where we are now! He makes me a better person, like they say in those movies, greater than the sum of my parts.”

“Oh my god,” Tetsurou repeats, mortified, “ _How are you saying those things with a straight face?!_ ”

“In the hopes that you’ll let your Daichi know you like him too?”

“Um—I. How do you know that?” Tetsurou wants a lot of things right now. The ground opening up to swallow him would be excellent. Some hot soup—any kind is fine, just not tomato. Tetsurou thinks tomatoes are kind of vile and shouldn’t be allowed in a lot of foods—to pluck out his eyeballs and soak them in would also be wonderful.

“Because,” Sawamura says sunnily, scratching Onigiri behind his ears, “there’s no universe in which I don’t love him. And I’m willing to bet it’s the same for him.”

Soup sounds absolutely fantastic right now. He’ll even take tomato, what the heck.

♥　♡　♥　♡　♥　♡　♥　♡　♥

It’s just past 8 pm, which means—

“We have to make dinner,” Daichi decides.

“What are we making?” Tetsurou asks. They haven’t cooked together in a while, but he’s looking forward to this.

“Wait, you know how to cook?” Daichi turns to him, starry-eyed.

“Um. Yes?”

“Is it weird I almost want you to stay here? Because Kuroo _cannot_ cook to save his life.”

Tetsurou is surprised at Daichi’s skill in the kitchen. While it wasn’t at par with his own Daichi’s, he thinks it’s pretty okay for a twenty-one year old college student. At least this Daichi isn’t crying rivers the way he did when he first chopped onions.

They work together seamlessly, and in record time, they have a warm meal in front of them. Daichi sits down on the ratty old sofa in the apartment, where he and this-universe’s Tetsurou usually dine, but Tetsurou absently calls out for the dogs. 

“Oh.” He realises after a beat of silence, with Daichi staring at him wordlessly. He sits down on the sofa and puts his head in his hands. The very real implications of being stuck in an alternate version of himself slowly rise to the surface. He might never see his own Daichi ever again. Homesickness begins to eat him inside out.

Then, he feels a hesitant hand in his hair. It’s Daichi, saying it’ll be alright, in that soothing motion of his that he does whenever he thinks Tetsurou might need a little pick-me-up.

They eat dinner in complete silence.

Afterwards, they wash up together, like always. In both universes, they don’t let each other get away with two things: laundry, which is thankfully not today’s battle, and washing dishes.

They watch some TV and Tetsurou yawns. The day had been long and stressful. He’s tired and his breath feels short and he might even admit to being a little scared. There might be some tears behind itchy eyelids. He thinks this Daichi might have his hands full with this universe’s version of himself. Their proximity is comforting, though. 

Daichi’s hand slips into his own. “If you meet Kuroo, tell him he’s an idiot for running off, will you?”

Tetsurou snorts and squeezes Daichi’s hand back. It’s not as bad as it could've been, he supposes, and this Daichi’s Tetsurou had better learn to appreciate what he has.

♥　♡　♥　♡　♥　♡　♥　♡　♥

Tetsurou’s starting to think his thoughts carry some kind of immeasurable power. There’s soup for dinner. And thankfully, it isn’t tomato.

It's not just soup, though, there’s also some fried chicken and a host of other things Tetsurou wants to learn how to make because he’s sure Sawamura’d be impressed. He thinks Tetsurou’s an abomination in the kitchen, when in reality, he’d almost burned everything down _once_. By _accident._

He feels incredibly tired and almost passes out in his soup. Somehow, he manages to inhale everything and all at once, the day comes to a close.

When they lie down, already half-burrito-ed in the blankets, Sawamura tells him not to worry, because everything’d turn out for the better. Tetsurou hopes so. He kind of misses the ratty couch at home. He misses his biochemistry lab. He even misses the regular Friday night greasy McDonald’s happy meal dinner. What he misses most of all is the familiarity of his own life, including Sawamura. He takes even, measured breaths, trying not to imagine what could come to pass if he woke up in this bed tomorrow morning—

Sawamura flicks his forehead. “Hey. Stop thinking so loud. Everything’s going to be fine.”

“How do you know?” Tetsurou asks thickly, trying not to sound miserable.

“Would it be that bad to be stuck here forever? Aren’t two dogs enough?”

Sawamura straight up laughs when Tetsurou’s eyes widen and tells him it’s spelt J-O-K-E, and it’s better than the half-dozen dog puns he’d made that afternoon.

At some point, Kiki settles over his feet and he feels some kind of peace take over him. Tetsurou falls asleep to the lull of Sawamura’s cooing to the dogs, nose tucked into the sheets.

♥　♡　♥　♡　♥　♡　♥　♡　♥

Tetsurou wakes up to his alarm clock. Except, it sounds muffled and faraway. He doesn’t want to wake up. Then his eyes shoot open and he finds that he really, really wants to punch the other Tetsurou square in the face for falling asleep on the sofa because he’s got a painful crick in the neck. He also finds himself holding hands with Sawamura, who’s still asleep, drooling on his shoulder.

He pinches himself discreetly, hoping this isn’t another joke the universe deems funny, but there he is, awake, with an aching neck, on his ratty sofa. With who he hopes is _his_ Sawamura.

“Oh, hey. You’re awake.” What is it with all the Sawamuras and their uncanny ability to wake up without a sound and make him want to jump out of his own skin? “Wait. Are you…?”

Tetsurou swallows thickly. “Um. It’s me, Sawamura.”

“Oh,” Sawamura says, and Tetsurou hopes he hasn’t imagined the relieved undertone.

And then, Sawamura hugs him tight. And then, with orange daybreak closing in, Tetsurou hugs him back. And then,

“Hey, Sawamura?”

“Hey, Kuroo?”

They talk over each other until: “I missed you.”

Tetsurou doesn’t remember who said it first, and to him, it doesn’t matter. (Daichi, _yes_ , he becomes Daichi, then, insists that Tetsurou’d made a fuss about how he’d said it _first_ , but they all knew it was probably, well, for the best that they let this rest.)

They stay like that, until in they yell in tandem about various classes and assignments and lab reports and million other things that make up the chaos of the Great Sea of Academia.

“I’ll make you dinner tonight,” Tetsurou promises between bites of too-toasted bread.

“I just told you I liked you and you already want to kill me?” But Sawamura laughs at his expression and Tetsurou flushes pink. He’s glad to be back.

♥　♡　♥　♡　♥　♡　♥　♡　♥

When Tetsurou wakes up, it’s still dark outside. When he shifts into wakefulness, he can just barely see the outlines of his favourite things in the world.

“Are you awake?” Daichi whispers, voice hoarse and deep, still sleepy.

“Yeah,” Tetsurou whispers back, “Can I kiss you?”

Daichi laughs and leans in with a soft peck to his lips. “Did you miss me this much?”

Tetsurou very nearly replies that yes, yes he did, and he never wants to get stuck in a place far away from Daichi ever again, but Daichi beats him to it.

“Don’t disappear like that again, I don’t think I could handle seeing you blush and stutter through every single sentence again.”

“Oh? I could say the same for you,” Tetsurou says, wrapping his arm around Dachi. “You were so cute. So tiny.”

“Excuse me?” Daichi says, snuggling closer, the mundanity slipping into his lungs like a breath of fresh air; sweet and light.

Tetsurou answers with a hum against skin, a slant of the mouth against a collarbone, a mess of limbs.

And then: “Woof!”

“The love of your life is calling out, Tetsu,” Daichi giggles as Kiki makes her presence be known, right between their faces, licking each favourite face in turn. Onigiri joins them a few minutes later and the pile of love only grows larger.

♥　♡　♥　♡　♥　♡　♥　♡　♥

**Author's Note:**

> anyway halfway through writing this, when i realised it was called a bodyswap i went back to [this fic that i love very much and is an actual bodyswap masterpiece](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14563299) by [mozaikmage](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mozaikmage/pseuds/mozaikmage) so really, it's their fault too for writing such a lovely fic
> 
> which is also when it struck me i could've totally made it super angsty, kimi no na wa style. for krdai week day 1. oh well ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ this got long and very out of hand i apologise
> 
> however i would greatly appreciate any and all scraps of validation thrown my way mother gothel has me locked up in the tower and i crave it like man craves divinity
> 
> tumblr: [iceandbrimstone](https://iceandbrimstone.tumblr.com)  
> twitter: [floralsonnets](https://twitter.com/floralsonnets)


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